On the eve of the event, Dr. MR Rajagopal was interviewed by the journalist Faye D’Souza on the news channel ‘Mirror Now’, where Faye raised some very important questions pertaining to the impact of healthcare on Indians and the role played by palliative care in reducing health-related suffering in a country where last year 55 million Indians were forced below the poverty line as a direct result of health care costs. They also discussed various other socially relevant issues surrounding palliative care, including speaking with children in the context of serious illness.

The screening of the film itself was attended by about 75 people, primarily from the palliative care and medical fraternities but also included a few people who were not related to these fields and wanted to learn more.

The screening was followed by an audience interaction session led by a 3 member panel – Dr. Roop Gursahani (Consultant Neurologist and Epileptologist at Hinduja National Hospital. He is also one of the main activists with ELICIT, the End of Life Care in India taskforce), Sheela Jaywant (Writer and caregiver, and former hospital administrator) and Ashla Rani (Volunteer with Pallium India, caregiver and care recipient, and a disabilities rights activist). The discussion was moderated by Dr. Rajagopal. Participants asked some challenging questions and shared some powerful experience with suffering, and a few healthy debates were also had.

Smriti Rana, Consulting Psychologist and Programme Director at Pallium India, and Poonam Bagai, Vice Chairman of Pallium India and Founder President of Cankids…KidsCan, also addressed the audience.

Overall, the event was an intimate but powerful gathering of people who came together to learn, share and commit themselves further to the cause of reducing illness related suffering through palliative care.

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